Maybe there’s a little magic left in this franchise after all. Maybe, after all the bad luck with injuries and late goals allowed (OK – that hasn’t been about luck), things may turn around for the Rochester Rhinos. They gave up the go-ahead goal to Los Angeles in the 82nd minute on Friday night at Sahlen’s Stadium and it looked like another crushing blow, a punch to the gut for a team that has already taken what seems like a season full of them. But Rochester showed it’s far from giving up the fight.

Forward Tam McManus scored the tying goal in the 88th minute on a rebound of Josh Faga’s pass in front, as Rochester pulled out a 2-2 tie. While that didn’t produce the three points the Rhinos (1-6-3) wanted, it felt a little like a victory. “It’s kind of heartbreaking to not get three points, but it’s another step in the right direction,” said Blake Brettschneider, the former MLS forward who helped set up McManus’ equalizer and converted on a 12-yard shot after a pretty combination to tie it at 1 in the 51st minute. “Hopefully we can go to Pittsburgh and put on another good performance.” Rochester, which is tied for 11th, plays at ninth-place Pittsburgh (2-4-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday. After failing to get three points Friday at home, where the Rhinos are 0-2-1, they need all three Saturday. The top eight teams in USL PRO make the playoffs. Eleven of Rochester’s last 16 matches are at home, so there’s plenty of time to move up in the standings. But it has to start soon. Friday would have been a good beginning point. Instead, it turned into earning just one point and not three for a victory.

“We certainly should have won this game but I think with the tie and the circumstances it’s a confidence builder for us,” said coach Pat Ercoli, whose team was without seven injured players. “The following week we’ll start getting people back, so as long as you’re building on it with confidence, I think at some point this is all going to click.”

Had Rhinos forward Mike Reidy’s shot during stoppage time gone in rather than hit the bottom half of the crossbar, Ercoli might have thought the clicking started Friday. “We created chances. With a little luck and some better finishing we could have had four of five goals,” McManus said. A veteran of the Scottish Premier League, McManus was playing with a broken nose suffered in last weekend’s 0-0 tie at second-place Charleston. He one-timed a shot from 12 yards after Brettschneider tangled with a defender trying to get to a pass in front by Faga, 22, the McQuaid graduate making his second professional appearance. Los Angeles (4-4-3), which is 1-4-2 on the road, went ahead in the 40th minute when Chris Cortez out-leaped goalkeeper Kristian Nicht for a ball that took a high bounce in the box. Cortez scored on a header from about 14 yards. The Rhinos lost midfielder Ross LaBauex to a shoulder injury late in the half, but they tied it in the 51st when Gabe Latigue passed ahead to Tyler Rosenlund. He found Brettschneider for a first-time shot from 12 yards.

“I just tried to find little pockets in behind their defenders,” said Brettschneider, who played 32 times for New England and D.C. United in MLS the past two years. “Rosey put it right on my foot, a great little ball from him, and I just tried to stay down on it on this turf.”

The Rhinos could have stayed down after Nicht gave up a rebound on Cortez’s 24-yard shot and an unmarked George Davis tucked in the rebound, but they tied it. “I just managed to get a foot on it and poke it in,” McManus said of his first goal since last year. “But I’m a team player. I’d always take three points before goals.”

That’s what Rochester needs in Pittsburgh, where they bused to late Friday.

The moment Rhinos coach Pat Ercoli wrote down goalie Kristian Nicht’s name as a substitute for Tuesday night’s U.S. Open match against the New England Revolution, the importance Rochester’s two league matches this weekend became clear. Then again, when you’re 1-6-2 every match seems like a must-win.

But with the lineup riddled with injuries, Ercoli started second-year pro Brandon Miller, 23, in goal Tuesday. Ercoli didn’t want to risk the possibility of Nicht getting lit up by the MLS Revolution, who won 5-1, because after a poor start the 31-year-old keeper from Germany has been solid. The reigning USL PRO Goalkeeper of the Year has a pair of shutouts in his last four matches. The others were 1-0 losses. The injury list still is long for the Rhinos, but they have a better chance of earning three points by beating fourth-place Los Angeles (5-5-2) at home on Friday and ninth-place Pittsburgh (2-4-4) on the road on Saturday. “The focus was to make sure we get out of there without more injuries,” Ercoli said about Tuesday, when Rochester was without eight injured players. “When you look at the game film, for the first 52 minutes we were in it. We had our opportunities and they scored on a defensive error on our side.” But it was 2-0 when a 52-minute lightning delay started in the 53rd minute. Facing a two-goal hole, the Rhinos didn’t want to sustain more injuries up resumption. T

Rochester will have some reinforcements Friday. Defenders Gabe Latigue and Tyler Polak are back after playing Tuesday for New England, which owns their rights. They’re on loan to Rochester. Starting defenders Bilal Duckett and Georgios Kyriazis are probable after recovering from hamstring pulls. But team captain Troy Roberts isn’t expected back from the same injury and forward Matt Horth (foot) is still out. Midfielder Chris Estridge (knee) and defender Lucas Fernandez (groin) aren’t expected back anytime soon. Forward Matt Luzunaris (broken leg) and midfielder Michael Tanke (leg) are also still out since suffering serious injuries in the May 4 home opener.

Midfielder Mike Reidy is also questionable after tweaking his hamstring. The defense will be tested by an L.A. squad that averages nearly two goals a game. Chris Cortez, George Davis and Rodrigo Lopez lead the attack. “We’ll have a good team to put on the pitch. I’m very confident we can have a six-point weekend,” Nicht said. “You just have to look at the (standings) to see how important every league game is now.”

Rochester plays 12 of its final 17 at home. Last year it endured an 0-4-3 stretch in June and still finished in second place. But winning at home is key. So far, it’s 0-2 at Sahlen’s Stadium. “Win those and win some of the away games and you’re in better shape,” Ercoli said.

Just back from Thursday’s practice at Sahlen’s Stadium and here’s the update on the injury front: The most newsworthy item is that midfielder/forward Mike Reidy is questionable for Friday’s home match against fourth-place with a tender hamstring (This is a recording). If needed off the bench, he may be able to go, coach Pat Ercoli said. Defenders Gabe Latigue and Tyler Polak, who played in Tuesday’s 5-1 loss to the New England Revolution in the U.S. Open Cup, will be back with Rochester. That’s good news, along with listing starting defenders Georgios Kyriazis and Bilal Duckett as probable. Each missed the Cup match. Ercoli also has to keep in mind that his team has to go on the road for Saturday’s match at ninth-place Pittsburgh. Ah yes, the lovely back-to-back scenario that the USL PRO league puts its franchises in. Why that match can’t be on Sunday is beyond me. Heck, L.A. doesn’t turn around and play on Saturday. It has until Sunday to play at Dayton. But, I digress …

BREAKERS FORWARD IS NWSL WINNER: Boston Breakers forward Lianne Sanderson was voted the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Player of the Week by the media for Week 7 of the 2013 NWSL season. Click here for more. I expect the league’s Player of the Month to be named soon. Sky Blue FC goalie Brittany Cameron, the ex-Flash keeper, and WNY Flash forward Abby Wambach were my top two picks.

ABBY IN ACTION WITH U.S. ON SUNDAY: Wambach and Flash midfielder Carli Lloyd, by the way, will be in action on Sunday in Toronto at 4:30 p.m. for the United States’ match against Canada in a rematch of last year’s back-and-forth Olympic semifinal, won by the Americans. It’ll be televised live on ESPNews. Remember: Wambach is three goals from tying Mia Hamm’s world record of 158 and four from breaking it.

HAMM’S RECORDBREAKER: It happened in 1999 and it was No. 108, allowing Hamm to pass Italy’s Elisabetta Vignotto, and it was an actual thing of beauty. She nutmegged the goalie but what was so wondrous was the build up for it. Just watch – below.

Even when the Rochester Rhinos have had their full roster, it’s a tall task to try to chop down a Major League Soccer team. Now take away eight players out with injury and two more recalled from their loan. Down 10 bodies, it’s no surprise they were routed, 5-1, on Tuesday by the New England Revolution in a third-round U.S. Open Cup match at Sahlen’s Stadium. For the second straight week, a storm rumbled through Rochester and halted a Rhinos’ match. New England did a similar number on the short-handed Rhinos when play resumed. The Revolution scored twice in 11 minutes after lightning cleared out of the area to blow open what was a tight match for 52 minutes, and the MLS team won easily at rain-soaked Sahlen’s Stadium. “The wheels kind of came off,” Rhinos coach Pat Ercoli said what of happened after the delay.

A minute after play resumed, New England scored to make it 3-0 on a bad pass back by rookie Josh Faga (McQuaid), who was trying to get the ball to goalkeeper Brandon Miller, who was making his second career start. It was, by the way, Faga’s pro debut. In fact, seven of Rochester’s starters had played 10 or fewer matches with the club. Ten minutes after that mistake, it was 4-0 on Kelyn Rowe’s classy finish past Miller. There would be no magic against an MLS team this season for Rochester, not that much was expected with this lineup. More on that later. Rowe scored in the 23rd and 54th minutes and assisted on Andy Dorman’s 53rd-minute right before the delay, making it 2-0. The Revs will host the New York Red Bulls (MLS) or Reading United (Premier Development League) on June 12. Now the Rhinos must refocus on climbing into the USL PRO League playoff chase. At 1-6-2, their margin for error is as thin as their roster. They host fourth-place Los Angeles on Friday, then travel to ninth-place Pittsburgh on Saturday. That factored into how Ercoli pieced together his makeshift lineup on Tuesday against Rochester’s MLS affiliate. “The reality of it was we knew we weren’t going to have all of our best players out there, so we looked at it, took the percentages and said, ‘What players do we want to save for Friday?’ ” Ercoli said. “We knew what players could give us 90 minutes and what players we were kind of questionable with it.”

Rochester also was without Gabe Latigue and Tyler Polak, two Revolution players who have been loaned to the Rhinos for the season but were recalled and played for New England. Ercoli also decided to rest starting goalie Kristian Nicht, a curious decision considering it was only backup Brandon Miller’s second pro start. But Ercoli explained that he didn’t want to put his starter at risk for injury or have his confidence shattered by an MLS club attacking a defensive unit without three injured starters. The only regular defender who started in his true spot was left back, Danny Earls. In the middle, fourth-year man Tyler Bellamy played well and Faga was on the right. Lance Rozeboom, a defensive midfielder all season, slid back to central defense in the absence of starting center backs, Troy Roberts and Georgios Kyriazis, both out with hamstring injuries.

“It was somewhat unfair for Brandon, in a way, because he didn’t have the best lineup in front of him,” Ercoli admitted.

Not starting Nicht tells fans one thing: Rochester is putting its eggs in the USL basket, trying to make the playoffs, and that Ercoli probably didn’t think even with Nicht the Rhinos had the stuff to stun New England. I understand why he thought that. As I said, even with a full roster the Rhinos have toppled an MLS club only twice since 2005. Since Ercoli’s 2004 club knocked off the Revs on PKs, Laurie Calloway’s, Darren Tilley’s, Bob Lilley’s and Jesse Myers’ Rochester squads went 1-6-3 against MLS with only Calloway’s 2005 club (3-1 win over MetroStars) and Tilley’s 2009 team (5-3 on PKs over Columbus) moving on.

Credit Miller, 23, for this: He took one for the team. It was the most lopsided loss in Rhinos history against an MLS squad, as they fell to 7-13-4 against them. Miller looked shaky on a couple goals. On the first, Rowe’s 19-yard rip zipped over his shoulder on a shot the 6-foot keeper should have stopped. The second wasn’t his fault. He was hung out to dry.

Ercoli elected to bring JC Banks and Tam McManus off the bench, hoping that if needed firepower late, he had it. As it turned out, he didn’t need to use McManus. The match was already too far gone, so he inserted Andy Tiedt, an FC Buffalo guy who played last winter for the Rochester Lancers (MISL). Midfielder Brian Knapp, 27, signed earlier in the day is another player for FC Buffalo, an amateur squad. He started. New England coach Jay Heaps also went with almost all backups for a much different reason. He used players, he said, who were “chomping at the bit” to play. The quality of the Revs’ backups, obviously, was supreme. I thought some of their finishing really showed the difference between the MLS and USL PRO.

The Rhinos actually had a few good chances in the first half that could have altered the outcome, but forward Kendell McFayden, who took a dumb red card late, fouling Latigue, missed wide from 15 yards and midfielder Mike Reidy’s first touch failed him twice. “I think if we took our final touch (better) probably two or three different times we were in on a breakaway,” said Rhinos midfielder Tyler Rosenlund, who also missed wide on an open shot from 19 yards.

After the 52-minute delay and trailing 2-0, the Rhinos were concerned about suffering more injuries. So were the Revs, who’d lost a couple of guys in the first and were out of subs. When it got to 3-0, I knew it was over. Yes, New England was the MLS side that melted down against Harrisburg last year, allowing three late goals in overtime to tie it at 3 and force PKs. Yes, they went from up 3-0 to tied in a matter of nine minutes. The Rhinos were reminded of that. But, lightning didn’t strike twice. New England poured it on as the rain kept falling.

It’s only one point. That’s all soccer teams get for a tie. But factor in the circumstances and effort the 12th-place Rhinos put in to Saturday night’s match at second-place in Charleston, S.C., and a single, solitary point never seemed so important for Rochester. Despite losing defenders Troy Roberts and Bilal Duckett to hamstring injuries in the first 24 minutes, the Rhinos played the defending USL PRO League champions even at Blackbaud Stadium. The gritty result ushered in interim coach Pat Ercoli’s return to league action. Also the team president, Ercoli replaced second-year coach Jesse Myers on Sunday with the Rhinos off to a slow start. “They fought as a team, they fought for each other. I’m really proud of the guys,” Ercoli said. “Before the match I told them it’s important to fight as a team, that teams win championships, not individuals.”

Ercoli spoke with an even tone. With two more starters injured, he knows the gravity of the situation. While this WAS a positive result, the big picture might look worse. Remember the days when the Rhinos could go with a few backups to ensure it’d field a fresh lineup against an MLS team in a Cup game? Those days are over because this club needs points, any points, to get back in the USL picture. Rochester (1-6-2) had beaten a Premier Development League team from Maine on Tuesday in a U.S. Cup game in Ercoli’s first match back on the sideline in nine years. The Rhinos now will try to have enough healthy bodies ready to face the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer in Tuesday’s 7:35 p.m. third-round U.S. Open Cup showdown at Sahlen’s Stadium. “We’ll do our best,” Ercoli said in a serious tone. Even before Saturday, six players were sidelined with injuries, then Roberts (18th minute), the team captain, and Duckett (24th) went down in Charleston (6-2-1), which knocked the Rhinos out of the playoffs in the 2012 semifinals. Roberts’ hamstring was already tender coming into the match. Without him, Ercoli shifted defensive midfielder Lance Rozeboom to central defense alongside Tyler Bellamy, the fourth-year pro starting in place of veteran Georgios Kyriazis, who pulled his hamstring last weekend. Forward Tam McManus replaced Roberts. McManus ran and ran, just as he did last week, and Mike Reidy continued to look like the most dangerous attacking player the Rhinos have. UPDATE: McManus tweeted a picture late Saturday that he suffered a broken nose in the match.

Listen, with all these injuries it does not look good for this club, but we can put to rest any issue about its heart. Those 3-0, 3-1, 4-1 and 5-1 losses earlier, to me, that called into question character. This 0-0, in dire straits, erases some of that and should give this group some confidence going forward. It’s just a matter of how many of them will be physically ABLE to play.

Duckett’s absence caused more lineup shifting, as Tyler Polak came in at left back. That moved defender Danny Earls up to left midfield and midfielder Ross LaBaeux over to right back. Ercoli gave 2012 team MVP JC Banks, making just his fourth appearance since returning from an ACL tear, his first start. He put in 69 minutes, hustling like the rest of his teammates, before exiting in 69th in favor of Kendell McFayden. While the Rhinos didn’t create a ton of chances, by no means did they sit back. Midway through the first half, their possession picked up. Holding the ball meant Charleston had to chase them, saving some energy for Rochester. Banks had a decent opportunity in the 55th minute, but it was broken up in the box. With the Rhinos tiring, Charleston’s Dane Kelly missed wide on a 19-yard shot and goalkeeper Kristian Nicht made the save of the match on Haviel Cordovez’s 20-yard, diving to just tip it wide. Charleston kept pressing as the match wore on, as Zach Prince missed high on a 14-yard volley off a throw-in and then in the 81st minute a loose ball in front off a corner kick was cleared by Rozeboom. The Rhinos played with a man advantage after an 83rd-minute red card to Amadou Sanyang as tempers flared following a tackle from behind on Polak by Michael Azira. “We never said, ‘We’re not going forward. We had guys trying to score,’ Ercoli said. “We gave up some chances in the process, but sometimes in order to win outright you have to do that.”

The only goals defenders usually talk about after matches are the ones that end up in the back of their own team’s net. Maybe that’s why Brittany Taylor seemed so happy to describe the two she set up Friday night that led the Western New York Flash to a 2-1 comeback victory over the Chicago Red Stars in front of 3,152 chilly fans at Sahlen’s Stadium. A third straight victory catapulted the surging Flash (3-2-1, 10 points) from fifth place into a tie for the third in the National Women’s Soccer League. “I just knew Abby in the box, if I get it anywhere away from that keeper she’s got a chance on it,” Taylor said about Abby Wambach, whose 54th-minute goal tied it just two minutes after winless Chicago (0-4-2) went ahead on Lori Chalupny’s 16-yard shot. Midfielder McCall Zerboni converted the winner, using her head from just a few yards out in front to redirect Taylor’s 10-yard header. That also came off a corner kick by Adriana Martin-Santamaria. “We wouldn’t want to sit on a loss or a tie for 10 days,” Zerboni, the team captain, said about WNY’s layoff before playing its next four matches and eight of the next 10 on the road. “We want to keep the momentum going. It’s three straight wins in a row and we’re getting better and better each day.” After a scoreless first half, Chicago cracked the ice — it wasn’t that cold, but it was about 50 degrees at kickoff — in the 52nd minute. Jessica McDonald played an early pass ahead to Chalupny, and the former U.S. national team midfielder connected past goalkeeper Adrianna Franch.

Abby Wambach's goal was her fourth, tying her for the NWSL lead. Photo by Carlos Ortiz

But WNY answered quickly against a short-handed Chicago club. “You’re vulnerable after you score,” Chicago coach Rory Dames said, “and the Lloyds and Wambachs are going to come after you.” The Taylors, too. Up in the attack after a corner kick, the former University of Connecticut defender made the tying goal happen. Taylor booted a pass in front that was high and curving against the wind, and Wambach barely beat rookie goalkeeper Taylor Vancil (five saves) to the ball. “It’s not good to leave the FIFA World Player of the Year alone in the box,” Dames said, lamenting one of the mistakes by his young squad. Wambach’s 11-yard header was her fourth goal, tying her for the league lead. “I just tried get pace on it so it bent away from the keeper,” Taylor said of her pass, “so it makes her get that stuck-in-between (decision): Should I come or should I not come? It worked.”

Vancil (fives), starting in place of injured Canadian national team keeper Erin McLeod (hand), was strong in her pro debut for Chicago. The 22-year-old rookie out of Florida State made three big saves, including a diving deflection of Carli Lloyd’s drive, to keep it 0-0 in the first half. “I’ve heard good things and we saw good things,” Flash coach Aaran Lines said of Vancil.

Zerboni’s goal was her first this season. “I was just able to delicately kind of touch it in,” the WNY veteran said. “I was afraid I was going to hit it over.” Chicago had one more great chance to tie after it was 2-2, but Lauren Fowlkes missed high on wide-open header on the far post off a 70th-minute corner kick. “We showed character down a goal. To come back (and tie it) within three or four minutes was massive for us psychologically as well,” Lines said. “Once you tie it up you just had the feeling we were going to get another one.” The Red Stars have given up 12 goals in their six matches. The Flash, meanwhile, have yet to register a shutout, but they’ve won three straight times by the score of 2-1. “I thought ‘BT’ was solid,” Lines said of Taylor, an outside back who has converted to the middle and looks more comfortable every time out. “She’ll be disappointed we didn’t keep a clean sheet.”

NOTES: Lloyd made her second appearance and first start for the Flash, replacing Mexican national team player Veronica Perez. … Midfielder Sarah Huffmann came off the bench in the second half to make her NWSL and Flash debut. She replaced Samantha Kerr. Huffmann had been out all season with a knee injury. She had a good look at goal off a Wambach pass, but couldn’t get a shot off fast enough and it was blocked. … Chicago was without midfielder Leslie Osborne (knee) and forward Ella Masar didn’t start because of a hip injury. Masar replaced Maribel Dominguez in the 69th minute. … Chicago held the lead for the first time all season, but it lasted only two minutes. It has been outscored 12-4.

The Western New York Flash are back in action on Friday night at Sahlen’s Stadium, but instead of playing a pair of unbeaten teams as they did in their last two home wins, they’re facing a winless Chicago Red Stars club (0-3-2). After tonight, it’s 11 more days off and then a key four-match road swing. That makes Friday a must-win, in my eyes. If WNY wants to keep pace with Portland and Sky Blue, who have each played two more matches but have 16 points, the Flash (2-2-1, 7 points) can’t afford to not grab three points vs. Chicago, which came here last season and lost the WPSL Elite League final to WNY on penalty kicks. Here’s a link to my preview about the fortified Flash, who are getting healthy, vs. Chicago, which is still without U.S. national team players Shannon Boxx and Amy Lepeilbet but did get two German internationals in this week.

RHINOS TRAVELING LIGHT: Rochester can suit up 18 players for every match but several injuries will prevent it from doing that in Saturday’s 7:30 match at second-place Charleston (6-2). That’s not good news for interim coach Pat Ercoli in his first road trip in nine years. Here’s the list of players who are expected to be unavailable: forwards Matt Luzunaris (broken leg) and Matt Horth (foot); midfielders Michael Tanke (leg), Gabe Latigue (college graduation), Chris Estridge (knee) and defenders Lucas Fernandez (groin) and Georgios Kyriazis (hamstring). That makes Saturday an even tougher task against the defending USL PRO champions. Earning a point from a tie would be terrific. Stealing three points for a win would be quite shocking. The Battery followed up a 1-0 loss at Charlotte, where the Rhinos tied 0-0, with a pair of 1-0 wins over Houston’s MLS reserve squad in league play and Portland’s U-23 squad in a second-round U.S. Open Cup match on Tuesday. It hosts San Jose (MLS) on Tuesday in Cup play while Rochester hosts New England (MLS). LOOK FOR MY PREVIEW LATER TODAY.

ABOUT THE AFFILIATION AND CUP: Ercoli told me Thursday that the Rhinos had full rein to use their loaned players from New England in Tuesday’s Cup opener, but the Revolution asked, if possible, to not use any of them as subs in the final minutes of the match. That would have made them Cup-tied to Rochester, meaning they can’t play in Tuesday’s match if the Revs need them. Defender Bilal Duckett played and scored for the Rhinos and forward Matt Horth didn’t play because he was and still is hurt. Midfielder Gabe Latigue and defender Tyler Polak weren’t used, so it’s possible if New England needs them they could play against Rochester on Tuesday. I know there has been some Twitter banter about the integrity of this, but here me out: If you’re one of these players, no matter who you suit up for Tuesday you’re going to want to play your best to impress the Revs’ brass. New England wants these guys in Rochester to play and develop and try to win, so if one of them sinks the Revs on Tuesday if they’re in a Rhino uniform, that’s exactly what they sent them here to do. And if New England coaches were to hold that against the player, well, then … the integrity question is on them, not the player.

The U.S. Open Cup draw for the fourth round was announced Wednesday and now we know what’s at stake: Another home game and shot to take down an MLS club. The Rhinos play New England on Tuesday in the third round and if they win, they’ll host the New York Red Bulls on June 12 at Sahlen’s Stadium. Rochester (1-6-1) is back in action on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at second-place Charleston (7-1-2), where Rochester goalie Kristian Nicht stood on his head last year in making 18 saves to pull out a draw.

MLS TO NYC: Did you see the news that New York City will get a second MLS franchise in 2015? And did you catch what the expansion fee is up to $100 million. Yeah, that ship long ago has sailed for us in Rochester … unless for some reason Mr. Beckham gains an affinity for Finger Lakes Wine Country.

CLARIFICATION ON GUARANTEED CONTRACTS: USL legal counsel David Wagner offered some clarification for me regarding my Wednesday post on why the USL has guaranteed contracts for its players now. It’s a FIFA and U.S. Soccer thing. Here’s more: “As a member affiliate of U.S. Soccer and in turn FIFA, USL is required to follow the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/01/06/30/78/statusinhalt_en_122007.pdf). Article 13 of the regulations mandates the Respect of Contract. This specifically requires: ‘A contract between a professional and a club may only be terminated upon expiry of the term of the contract or by mutual agreement.’ A contract can be bi-laterally terminated or terminated for cause, but a club cannot unilaterally terminate the agreement.” So, my beef is with FIFA. Oh well. Guess there’s no shot of that being changed, even though we’re talking about minor-league soccer.

FLASH RAFFLING OFF NOTABLE JERSEYS: The Western New York Flash will raffle off some very cool jerseys and memorabilia at Friday’s home match against Chicago. Among the jerseys will be 2011 shirts worn and autographed by Alex Morgan and another by Marta. For more information, click here.

For athletes, they are great. But you know what? I think they hurt effort and performance, which are two things that make athletes successful on the field and teams successful off it attracting fans. Most people in most careers don’t have a guaranteed contract. So they have to keep performing or they’re out of a job. This is why I don’t like tenure for college professors, either. Sorry, World of Academia, but that’s how I feel. Why? When employees can’t be fired or let go – whatever term you use – they often tend to shift into cruise control. This is why I wish the United Soccer Leagues would go back to the way things used to be, the way they ought to be, when minor-league players didn’t have contracts that were guaranteed for the entire season and had to perform or fear that next week they could be out of a job. If you have a special talent or enough leverage to negotiate a guaranteed contract, good for you. But, as one former Rhinos coach used to tell me when we’d discuss the shortcomings of players on his roster: “There’s a reason why they’re here,” and not in Europe or Major League Soccer. So, I wish the USL would bust up whatever weak players’ union there is (is there even one?) and go back to the way things were, when players had to be hungry or they might end up going hungry. Listen, I understand that these guys in the USL and other minor leagues don’t make big money. I feel for them. Those long bus rides or 5 a.m. flights and other inhumane itineraries, they stink. But most of these guys are young and they’re chasing a dream. Most of us would love to be able to chase it and not have to worry about paying bills and putting food on the table. But they need to give everything they have every single minute and guaranteed contracts hinder that pursuit and that mindset. By the way, I don’t have a guaranteed deal.

COMING SOON: Look for an in-depth piece on Saturday on the return of Pat Ercoli to coach the Rhinos. Rochester (1-6-1) plays at Charleston (6-2) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The second-place Battery beat the Portland Timbers U-23 squad 1-0 on Tuesday in a second-round U.S. Open Cup game and is traveling today back to South Carolina. Here’s a link to my game story on Rochester’s 1-0 win over GPS Portland Phoenix on Tuesday and check out the video below.

ABOUT THAT CROWD: Someone tweeted at me asking about the crowd size Tuesday at Sahlen’s Stadium. Announced it was over 2,600. In actuality, it was probably more like half of that and certainly less after the storm rolled through at halftime. The forecast was bad, too, so I anticipated a horrible crowd even though it was Ercoli’s first match back coaching since 2004. But, and here’s why I mention this: These early-round Cup games have NEVER drawn well, not even when the Rhinos drew big crowds to Frontier Field. Now, if there are only 2,000 in the stadium next Tuesday when New England (MLS) comes to town, then I’ll be disappointed. In fact, I think the Rhinos should flood the market with advertising and with this, scheme: “Pat’s back, can the Rhinos be giant-killers once again, too?” I don’t have the full concept, but I think it’d work. While I’m at it, why don’t the Rhinos advertise more – even do a video or commercial – about how there is $6 parking right where those unsightly locker room trailers used to and $5 lots right across the street from the park? Fans still whine about parking and the neighborhood, this would seem like something the club should highlight.

I STILL THINK … These Rhinos can be good. Of course, very little that I’ve actually seen on the field makes me believe that. But, they simply can’t be this bad with some of the resumes these guys have. I know that on “on paper” means nothing in sports. But, I truly think there is talent here and it just hasn’t clicked. I also think Jesse Myers deserved four more matches as coach before the change was made on Sunday to Ercoli. The tougher portion of the schedule is over. Myers’ team played six of its first eight on the road, two against first-place Orlando and another against third-place Harrisburg. Now they get six of their next eight at home. And if there’s any magic left around here and the Rhinos can upset New England on Tuesday, it just may be the type of confidence-building victory that these guys need.

FLASH UPDATE: Western New York (2-2-1) is back in action on Friday at home against the Chicago Red Stars (0-3-2), who are without injured U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx but do have Lori Chalupny, Ella Masar, Leslie Osborne and Canadian goalie Erin McLeod among their top players. They haven’t played since a 2-0 loss to Portland on May 12. The Flash have been off since beating FC Kansas City, 2-1, on May 11 so both clubs will be well-rested. Look for more on Friday.

RAMPONE HONORED: U.S. national team defender Christie Rampone is the NWSL Player of the Week for anchoring a defense that recorded shutouts at Portland and at Seattle. Sky Blue FC is 3-0-1 since losing in Rochester, 2-1, and at 5-1-1 is tied with Portland atop the standings with 16 points.

ABBY AND CARLI CALLED TO U.S. SQUAD: It’d actually be MORE newsworthy if they weren’t, but Flash players Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd are among the group U.S. coach Tom Sermanni has selected to train with the U.S. for its June 2 match at Toronto’s BMO Field against Canada in a rematch of last year’s Olympic semifinal and controversial thriller, a 4-3 U.S. win on Alex Morgan’s leaping header. Remember, Wambach is just three goals of tying Mia Hamm’s world record of 158 goals.

What’s that saying about riding a bike? Nearly nine years since the last time he coached, Pat Ercoli returned to the bench Tuesday night and Rochester did something that became synonymous with his old Rhinos teams. It won. “It has been a while, but for the most part once the game started I pretty much was able to pick up where I’ve always been,” Ercoli said after the Rhinos edged GPS Portland Phoenix 1-0 in a second-round U.S. Open Cup match at stormy Sahlen’s Stadium. “I think once you’ve done it, especially doing it for nine years … your experience comes into play.”

Ercoli, who has been the team president since 2010, replaced Jesse Myers on Sunday with the Rhinos off to a 1-6-1 start in USL PRO League play. Tuesday’s victory earns them a home game next Tuesday against the New England Revolution, one of the MLS teams Ercoli’s old squads butted heads with years ago in Cup play. Something is different now: The Revs and Rhinos are in their first season as affiliates. Bilal Duckett, one of four Revs players on loan to the Rhinos this season, scored the winning goal in the 65th minute Tuesday to turn away GPS, a team from the USL’s Premier Development League, one level below USL PRO. A defender up in the box to try and score on a corner kick, the 24-year-old used his shin to direct Danny Earls’ corner past goalkeeper Adam Perron. “It was intentional,” the former University of Notre Dame standout said with a grin. “Whatever it takes to get it in the goal when it’s in the box.”

The same can be said for keeping one out of your own goal, and that’s what Earls did when he headed a corner kick off the line early in the second half. Seconds later, goalie Kristian Nicht made a diving stop on a 19-yard blast by Emmanuel Appiah. The 6-foot-5 Nicht saved his mates again in stoppage time with GPS desperately trying to force overtie. Appiah took aim on a 28-yard free kick. It was dipping and bending away from Nicht, but he dove and deflected it wide. “I needed every inch of my length to save that one,” Nicht said.

The final score didn’t look as if the Rhinos dominated but they limited chances while taking repeated shots by an underdog that decided to play a physical style, committing 19 fouls compared to eight for Rochester, to try to pull the upset. “We got kicked, but I think we gave it back to them a bit,” Earls said.

The Rhinos survived with a workmanlike effort, improving to 14-0-1 in Cup play against teams from lower divisions. “We were sick. We were embarrassed. We were fed up with losing,” Earls said. “It was good to get a win.” Rochester had been outscored 17-4 in winning only once in league play. A 1-0 loss at home Saturday to first-place Orlando City was the final straw for Rhinos owner Rob Clark, who was at Tuesday’s match. Orlando is in first place, but despite playing the final 52 minutes a man short and for a second straight night following a 2-2 tie Friday in Harrisburg, Pa., it used an 85th-minute goal to beat the Rhinos. Clark wanted Ercoli back on the bench. It was the 55-year-old USL Hall of Famer’s first time calling the shots since Sept. 5, 2004, when the Rhinos were eliminated in a playoff loss at rival Montreal. Tuesday marked his 290th match (182 wins), including all competitions. Ercoli’s talented-yet-tough clubs won A-League championships in 1998, 2000 and 2001 and posted a regular-season record of 139-67-15.

Mix in a stunning run to capture the Cup in 1999, when the Rhinos beat four consecutive MLS teams, and Rochester’s success over a four-year period – 107 wins, 32 losses, 7 ties (in all competitions) – was unmatched by any North American professional soccer team. Ercoli said getting ready for the match or taking the field didn’t feel surreal. But he did admit that coming into halftime with a 0-0 score, “I had to think a little bit before I figured out what the solution was.” That was having the Rhinos’ wings pinch the middle to build the attack. “The guys responded. They were doing the right things to get deeper into their territory,” he said.

The start of the second half was delayed 75 minutes due to a storm, including rain and lightning. Ercoli’s lineup wasn’t much different than what Myers used. Ercoli did say the club is bringing in a couple of players who were with FC Toronto, including a speedy forward, with injuries to Matt Luzunaris (leg) and Matt Horth (foot). Rochester also likely lost central defender Georgios Kyriazis for a few weeks after he pulled his hamstring following the lengthy weather delay. The Rhinos play at second-place Charleston (6-2) on Saturday before facing New England. “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind. I’m not going to lie about that,” Earls said about the Rhinos’ coaching change. “Everyone’s sad to see Jesse go. It was unfortunate with some of the results we got. I thought the players worked hard for him.”

Jeff DiVeronica has covered professional soccer and the Rhinos for the Democrat and Chronicle since the team's inception in 1996. "Devo's Direct Kicks" takes aim mostly at Rochester soccer, but will also highlight the USL, MLS and U.S. national team play. Devo, his nickname since college at St. John Fisher, also hosts two weekly radio shows each Saturday on WHTK-AM/FM (1280/107.3 or www.whtk.com). "Kick This!" (11 a.m.) features soccer talk, while the Canandaigua National Bank High School Sports Show (noon) covers Section V sports. E-mail Jeff at jdiveron@DemocratandChronicle.com.
Or follow him on Twitter: @RocDevo